The lawsuit, filed in March by a group of arts organisations, pushed back against policies the NEA adopted stipulating that federal funds "shall not be used to promote gender ideology". After the lawsuit was filed, the NEA softened the terms of its "gender ideology" policy, stipulating in a " final notice" that the chair of the endowment would review grant applications on a "case-by-case" basis "for artistic excellence and merit including whether the proposed project promotes gender ideology".
Given a 48-hour timeline to comply with the order, many agencies opted for what Judge Bates describes as 'the most extreme approach: fully removing any webpage with any offending language, no matter how minimal, without any stated intent to modify and republish the webpage.'
A cross-government assessment of the damage attributed to gender ideology's adoption by public bodies was called for by Welsh MP Tonia Antoniazzi, asserting that institutions have been influenced by LGBT charities promoting the concept that sex can be altered.